Joe Biden, who struggled in three early voting states, decisively won his first Democratic primary on Saturday night in South Carolina, home to a large African American electorate that had been seen as his firewall. “All those of you who’ve been knocked down, counted out, left behind, this is your campaign,” Biden told a cheering crowd. “Just days ago, the press and the pundits had declared this candidacy dead. Now thanks to all of you, the heart of the Democratic Party, we’ve just won and we won big because of you. And we are very much alive.”
Just after the race was called, Biden picked up an endorsement from former Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe live on CNN, support that comes the heels of Sen. Tim Kaine also backing the former vice president ahead of that state’s primary on Super Tuesday. Still, Biden doesn’t get his frontrunner title back just yet. That still belongs to Bernie Sanders, who finished neck-and-neck with Pete Buttigieg in Iowa and won his next two contests in New Hampshire and Nevada. But Biden’s win may restore his position as the most promising moderate alternative to the Vermont progressive, and give his campaign momentum as 14 state’s hold elections in three days. On MSNBC, former Obama adviser David Plouffe suggested “this is a two-person race right now” between Biden and Sanders, though the former vice president has a major obstacle in competing with billionaire Mike Bloomberg and other candidates for the moderate vote.
Though Biden led national polls early against a crowded 2020 field, his stumbles on the campaign trail paved the way for Bloomberg to jump in and his disappointing finishes in the first three primaries and caucuses only added to questions about his viability. Meanwhile, Buttigieg punching above his weight in Iowa got him some attention from the establishment; however, he has a more challenging path forward, thanks in part to his difficulty making inroads with voters of color. Amy Klobuchar hasn’t been able to translate her strong debate performances and editorial board endorsements into better than a third place finish. And Bloomberg, who isn’t really competing for votes until Super Tuesday, has been awkward and blundering outside the heavily-mediated cocoon of his campaign ads, memes, and rallies.
Those other contenders, including progressive Elizabeth Warren, won’t be vanquished by Biden’s South Carolina win—a victory that was expected for the candidate entering the contest with a double-digit lead and the support of House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, a towering figure in the state’s politics. But it does restore a sense of viability to his previously sputtering campaign, and gives him some momentum heading into next week’s slate of primaries, when more than 1,300 delegates are up for grabs.
Biden, who has been undisciplined on the campaign trail and often flat in debates, has seemed stronger in recent days. In Tuesday’s Charleston debate, he landed blows on rivals like Sanders and Tom Steyer—who dropped out after the race was called Saturday night—and was able to steer attention toward his accomplishments, rather than his faults, accumulated over decades in D.C. and as Barack Obama’s vice president. Then, at a town hall this week, a powerful exchange about faith between Biden and a pastor whose wife was killed in the racist Charleston church shooting in 2015 underscored his ability to forge emotional connections with voters. His victory this weekend would seem to continue that upward trajectory. But Sanders holds a commanding lead over the field nationally, and in several upcoming primary states flush with delegates, like California. A win in South Carolina can’t erase all that, but it makes the state of play more complex and could prompt the remaining candidates to consider in the coming days if they have a path forward.
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